Page 91 of A Warrior's Fate

Because not only was he bringing Isla to the home of her fated mate—a powerful alpha who she was undoubtedly attracted to and likely would have slept with if it hadn’t meant being bound to him for eternity—but he had also recruited for this team of his Isla’s ex-boyfriend.

Yes, her ex.

The one she’d nearly chosen.

Even as Isla stared at the back of Callan’s head from her seat, she still couldn’t believe the egomaniac of a bastard had managed to convince Eli of his worth at the feast. No doubt it was through wondrous stories of triumph that she was sure were laden with exaggeration, but even still, here he was. She would never tell him she was just the smallest bit grateful for his presence. At least to have something familiar.

Amidst Eli’s selected group made up entirely of males—two of which were twice her age—Isla was a pariah. The air of them didn’t necessarily have the “chew you up and spit you out” quality to it that Ameera had mentioned—summarizing experiences Isla had already been privy to since the beginning of her training years—but they certainly weren’t falling over themselves to include her or to simply be friendly.

Suddenly, the van lurched to a halt, nearly sending Eli down the aisle and rattling the tower of trunks full of their belongings tied down to the roof.

The general whipped around and barked out a “Warrior” to their driver, a member of their squadron—Lavan, a Warrior of Mimas.

Lavan had lifted his hand off the vehicle’s gearshift and pointed outside. “I can’t move, General.”

Isla, like the other members of their team—Callan, Emil, and Fitch—slowly rose in her seat to train her eyes out the window. She held back her gasp. They were surrounded. By wolves. But not just any wolves.

They were wolves of Deimos’s guard.

Holy shit.

They’d crossed the border.

She was in Deimos.

The words of her realization surely hit her much more powerfully than the scenery did. She wasn’t sure what she’d be expecting, but it was certainly more than this.

Isla had drawn such a picture in her head of Deimos. This foreign land she’d never fit into. But its border was just a border. If anything, the greatest difference from any other she’d crossed was the armada of wolves they’d come upon. Even more seemed to lurk in the shadows as Isla caught the faintest glow of eyes amongst the trees. Had things always been this way here? Or was the guard presence heightened due to the recent tragedies? Whatever the decision had been, it was Kai’s.

After taking their time to circle the vehicle, one of the wolves lifted their head to howl, and Isla watched and listened as a chorus of them followed. Their calls seemed to reverberate the woods, and the world, shaking the creatures dwelling in the trees from their hiding. It went on for miles. How many were out here?

“Some welcome party,” Fitch commented, settling back down into his seat, continuing to gnaw on the plethora of snacks he’d brought for the excursion. Isla had contemplated asking him for some at one point, but the man was unusually territorial over his food.

As the howls came to an end in a soft hum that seemed to linger in the back of Isla’s skull, the pack surrounding them dispersed. Three figures emerged from the brush. Isla squinted to get a good look through the shadows of the trees and was able to discern two of them were guards, thanks to their uniforms. A man and woman clad in a simple, thin black tunic, the open fabric tied at their waists with cloth belts. A glint caught off them from the silver stitching of Deimos’s insignia. They could shift. There was no way they’d be out on patrol weaponless and in such flimsy protection, otherwise.

Leading the two was a man clad in attire much more modest, but it wasn’t another variation of the guard apparel. He tugged at the lapels of his jacket as he came to a stop a few feet from their vehicle’s door. There were no words spoken. They simply waited.

Eli’s face was drawn in confusion. “What is this?”

Adjusting his own attire—running his own fingers over the deep charcoal of their day sets—he moved down the aisle to greet the soldiers.

Isla could barely hear what they were saying from her spot, even after she pressed her ear to the window.

Not too long after, Eli’s hand shot up as he waved them over. “Off! Bring your papers!”

Her papers?

Her features scrunching in confusion, Isla glanced down to the bag at her side before quickly surveying the others. Her papers were in this bag, yes, but so were the book, marker, and dagger. There was no chance she’d leave them at home through the duration of her tenure in Deimos, and there was no way she’d risk losing them if her trunk of belongings had fallen off the roof. It was once the others had gotten their papers that she quickly rifled around for her own. Thankfully, she’d stored the envelope containing all the documents she’d needed somewhere easy to find.

It had been a mess of things required for her to enter Deimos in a capacity beyond a typical “visitor”. From her birth documents and current identification to certificates of her warrior status and a confirmation signed by both the Imperial Alpha and Kai that stated the conditions of her time here. She was permitted to stay within Deimos’s borders for the span of the warrior’s assignment, but at the end, she was required by law to return to Io.

As the five members of the warrior unit, other than Eli, lined up as instructed, the apparent leader of the trio stalked along them. “I’m Delta Sol,” he introduced, not a lick of anything hospitable in his tone.

A delta on border patrol? Typically, deltas were—

“I serve on Alpha Kai’s council,” Sol continued, placing his hands behind his back as he came to a halt at Emil at the end of the line opposite Isla. “And I’ve been tasked with confirming your crossing through our borders.”

As a round of questioning looks was shared amongst the warrior men of the group, Isla pursed her lips and took Sol in. The first member of Kai’s—apparently untrustworthy—council that she’d been confronted with. There seemed to be a real lack of joy in the upper echelons of Deimos. From their betas, beta’s children, down to their delta council members.

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